Fitness devices

Abstract

A fitness device includes a base assembly, a table coupled to the base assembly, and a foot restraint coupled to the base assembly. The foot restraint is configured, responsive to a change in a relative position of the foot restraint with respect to the table, to apply a resistive force to at least one of one or more feet and one or more ankles of a user positioned in the fitness device. The fitness device may also include a controller that is configured to adjust at least one of (i) a height of the table utilizing one or more height actuators of the fitness device, and (ii) a rotation of the table utilizing one or more rotation actuators of the fitness device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fitness device, comprising:
 a base assembly;   a table coupled to the base assembly; and   a foot restraint coupled to the base assembly;   wherein the foot restraint, responsive to a change in a relative position of the foot restraint with respect to the table, is configured to apply a resistive force to at least one of one or more feet and one or more ankles of a user positioned in the fitness device.   
     
     
         2 . The fitness device of  claim 1  further comprising:
 one or more rotation actuators comprised within at least one of the base assembly and the table; and 
 a controller configured to adjust a rotation of the table relative to the foot restraint utilizing the one or more rotation actuators. 
 
     
     
         3 . The fitness device of  claim 2  further comprising an elevation assembly coupled between the base assembly and the table, wherein at least one of the one or more rotation actuators is comprised at least partially within the elevation assembly. 
     
     
         4 . The fitness device of  claim 1  further comprising:
 one or more height actuators comprised within at least one of the base assembly, the table, and the foot restraint; and 
 a controller configured to adjust a height of the table relative to the foot restraint utilizing the one or more height actuators. 
 
     
     
         5 . The fitness device of  claim 4  further comprising an elevation assembly coupled between the base assembly and the table, wherein at least one of the one or more height actuators is comprised at least partially within the elevation assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The fitness device of  claim 1  further comprising:
 one or more height actuators comprised within at least one of the base assembly and the foot restraint; 
 one or more rotation actuators comprised within at least one of the base assembly and the table; and 
 a controller configured to adjust at least one of (i) a height of the table utilizing the one or more height actuators and (ii) a rotation of the table utilizing the one or more rotation actuators. 
 
     
     
         7 . The fitness device of  claim 6  further comprising an elevation assembly coupled between the base assembly and the table, wherein at least one of the one or more rotation actuators and the one or more height actuators is comprised at least partially within the elevation assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The fitness device of  claim 6  further comprising one or more sensors, the controller being configured to adjust said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table based at least in part on readings obtained from the one or more sensors. 
     
     
         9 . The fitness device of  claim 8  wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one force sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint, and wherein adjusting said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table is based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint. 
     
     
         10 . The fitness device of  claim 9  wherein the controller is configured to adjust said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint to maintain the resistive force applied by the foot restraint within a specified range. 
     
     
         11 . The fitness device of  claim 10  wherein the controller is configured to adjust said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint to maintain the resistive force applied by the foot restraint within the specified range during a sequence of motion of the user positioned in the fitness device. 
     
     
         12 . The fitness device of  claim 11  wherein the sequence of motion of the user positioned in the fitness device comprises:
 raising a height of the table to provide a linear stretch on the user; and 
 rotating the table after the linear stretch to apply additional stretch to a targeted area of a torso of the user. 
 
     
     
         13 . The fitness device of  claim 12  wherein the sequence of motion of the user positioned in the fitness device further comprises at least one of reversing a rotation of the table and lowering the height of the table. 
     
     
         14 . The fitness device of  claim 12  wherein the additional stretch comprises at least one of flexion, extension and lateral flexion of the torso of the user. 
     
     
         15 . The fitness device of  claim 11  further comprising a cushion assembly coupled to the table, and wherein the sequence of motion of the user positioned in the fitness device further comprises displacing at least a portion of the cushion assembly based at least in part on a rotation of the table to provide further stretch of the targeted area of the torso of the user. 
     
     
         16 . The fitness device of  claim 9  wherein the one or more sensors further comprise at least one height sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of a displacement height of the table, and wherein the controller is further configured:
 to generate one or more height compensation values based at least in part on a comparison of the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint and a maximum allowable resistive force; and 
 to adjust said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the displacement height of the table and the generated one or more height compensation values. 
 
     
     
         17 . The fitness device of  claim 8  wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one rotation sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of rotational displacement of the table, and wherein the controller is further configured to generate a measured rotation angle of the table based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the rotational displacement of the table. 
     
     
         18 . The fitness device of  claim 17  wherein the controller is further configured:
 to generate a reference rotation angle based at least in part on a maximum rotation angle of the table, a number of exercise repetitions of an exercise being performed by the user, and input controls; 
 to determine a difference between the reference rotation angle and the measured rotation angle; and 
 to adjust said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table based at least in part on the determined difference between the reference rotation angle and the measured rotation angle. 
 
     
     
         19 . The fitness device of  claim 18  wherein the input controls comprise a first input control and at least a second input control, wherein the reference rotation angle comprises a value larger than the measured rotation angle responsive to user activation of the first input control and the second input control, wherein the reference rotation angle comprises the measured rotation angle responsive to user activation of one of the first input control and the second input control, and wherein the reference rotation angle comprises a value smaller than the measured rotation angle responsive to user deactivation of the first input control and the second input control. 
     
     
         20 . The fitness device of  claim 8  further comprising:
 a cushion assembly coupled to the table, at least a given portion of the cushion assembly being configured to tilt relative to the table; and 
 one or more tilt actuators comprised within at least one of the table and the cushion assembly; 
 wherein the controller is further configured to adjust a tilt of the given portion of the cushion assembly based at least in part on the obtained sensor readings. 
 
     
     
         21 . The fitness device of  claim 20  wherein the given portion of the cushion assembly comprises at least one of a pelvic cushion and a lumbar cushion of the cushion assembly. 
     
     
         22 . The fitness device of  claim 20  wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one tilt sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of linear displacement of the given portion of the cushion assembly, and wherein the controller is further configured to generate a measurement of a tilt angle of the given portion of the cushion assembly based at least in part on the one or more measurements of linear displacement of the given portion of the cushion assembly. 
     
     
         23 . The fitness device of  claim 22  wherein the controller is further configured:
 to generate a reference rotation angle based at least in part on a maximum rotation angle of the table, a number of exercise repetitions of an exercise being performed by the user, and input controls; and 
 to adjust the tilt of the given portion of the cushion assembly based at least in part on the reference rotation angle and the measured tilt angle. 
 
     
     
         24 . The fitness device of  claim 1  wherein the table is configured for lateral rotation about a craniocaudal axis of the user positioned in the fitness device. 
     
     
         25 . The fitness device of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the foot restraint is removably coupled to the base assembly. 
     
     
         26 . The fitness device of  claim 1  wherein the foot restraint comprises a user attachment portion coupled to a base assembly mounting portion. 
     
     
         27 . The fitness device of  claim 26  wherein the user attachment portion comprises at least one of:
 one or more sets of adjustable parallel bars; 
 one or more adjustable cuffs; 
 one or more adjustable boots; 
 one or more adjustable straps; 
 one or more adjustable elastic bands; and 
 one or more adjustable springs. 
 
     
     
         28 . The fitness device of  claim 26  wherein the base assembly mounting portion is coupled to one or more fixed points on a platform of the base assembly. 
     
     
         29 . The fitness device of  claim 26  wherein the base assembly mounting portion comprises a rounded plate rotatably affixed to a platform of the base assembly. 
     
     
         30 . The fitness device of  claim 29  wherein the base assembly mounting portion further comprises a ball joint coupling the user attachment portion to the rounded plate, the ball joint being configured for at least one of rotation and linear travel of the user attachment portion relative to the platform of the base assembly. 
     
     
         31 . The fitness device of  claim 26  wherein the base assembly mounting portion comprises one or more sliding tracks affixed to a platform of the base assembly. 
     
     
         32 . The fitness device of  claim 31  wherein the base assembly mounting portion further comprises at least one of one or more straps and one or more elastic bands coupling the user attachment portion to the one or more sliding tracks, the one or more sliding tracks being configured for linear travel of the user attachment portion relative to the platform of the base assembly. 
     
     
         33 . A method of operating a fitness device comprising:
 detecting, by a controller of the fitness device, a change in a relative position of a foot restraint with respect to a table of the fitness device, the foot restraint being coupled to a base assembly of the fitness device; and   responsive to detecting the change in the relative position of the foot restraint with respect to the table, adjusting, using the controller of the fitness device, at least one of (i) a height of the table and (ii) a rotation of the table to apply a resistive force with the foot restraint to at least one of one or more feet and one or more ankles of a user positioned in the fitness device.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein adjusting said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table is based at least in part on readings obtained from one or more sensors of the fitness device. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one force sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint, and wherein adjusting said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table is based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint. 
     
     
         36 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by a controller of a fitness device causes the controller to perform steps of:
 detecting a change in a relative position of a foot restraint with respect to a table of the fitness device, the foot restraint being coupled to a base assembly of the fitness device; and   responsive to detecting the change in the relative position of the foot restraint with respect to the table, adjusting at least one of (i) a height of the table and (ii) a rotation of the table to apply a resistive force with the foot restraint to at least one of one or more feet and one or more ankles of a user positioned in the fitness device.   
     
     
         37 . The computer program product of  claim 36  wherein adjusting said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table is based at least in part on readings obtained from one or more sensors of the fitness device. 
     
     
         38 . The computer program product of  claim 37  wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one force sensor configured to obtain one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint, and wherein adjusting said at least one of the height of the table and the rotation of the table is based at least in part on the one or more measurements of the resistive force applied by the foot restraint.